In the series, Walgreens executives ask a man named Kevin Hunter to scope out Theranos’ lab to make sure things are up to par before they sign any deal with the company. In one scene, Hunter examines some of Theranos’ literature, reading, “Theranos has been thoroughly validated over the last seven years by a majority of the largest pharmaceutical companies.” This is a bit of both reality and fiction.
Rich Sommer in “The Dropout.”
Hulu
In Holmes’ trial, jurors saw a 2010 presentation she showed to Walgreens’ then-chief financial officer Wade Miquelon. Similar to the show, it read, “Theranos systems have been comprehensively validated over the course of the last seven years by ten of the fifteen largest pharmaceutical companies.”
In reality, many investors and partners believed Theranos’ technology had been validated by major pharmaceutical companies, even though this was not the case. This owed partly to the fact that Holmes put the logos of industry giants Pfizer and Schering-Plough on validation reports.
In her trial, Holmes testified that she slapped on the logos because “this work was done in partnership with those companies and I was trying to convey that,” according to NPR.
